ALL ABOARD THE TWO-SPEED EUROPE EXPRESS, THIS IS CAPTAIN JUNCKER SPEAKING:“The European Union will have to review its framework to allow some countries to do everything together and others to be less involved, the president of the European Commission said on Wednesday,” as he vowed that a Brexit will not happen. http://reut.rs/1lvkXSu

COMMISSION — TAKEAWAYS FROM THE STATE OF THE ENERGY UNION: It’s more a national state of play than an assessment of the recently launched Energy Union, but already there’s friction over climate and energy transition plans. The Commission believes more needs to be done to develop alternatives to Russian gas, and is otherwise relying on naming and shaming to bring national governments into line with EU targets.

For example, Hungary and Poland are the two EU states that may not meet their renewable energy goals for 2020. There are question marks over whether France, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom will meet the EU’s renewables targets. Finland, Greece, Romania, Cyprus, Italy and Portugal get a ticking off for setting energy savings targets too low. POLITICO | Reuters

EUROPEANS SPLIT ON WHETHER THEY HAVE A VOICE IN THE EU: from the latest Eurobarometer survey conducted for the European Commission. http://politi.co/1ORiSgh

DRAMATIC PROPOSALS ON FIREARMS TRANSACTIONS: It took the European Commission just four days after the Paris attacks to approve something U.S. gun-control advocates can only dream of: a full ban on private individuals possessing semi-automatic weapons. That still needs national government approval, but the Commission is able to immediately toughen regulations regarding decommissioned weapons, which have proven all too easy to reassemble. My story with Hans von der Burchard here: http://politi.co/1l6ZHBY

PARIS LATEST …

AT LEAST TWO DEAD AFTER SAINT-DENIS RAID, AS OFFICIALS TRY TO IDENTIFY BODIES: 5,000 live rounds later, it was still not clear overnight who or how many were killed, and whether the alleged planner of the Paris attack was among them.Le Monde: http://bit.ly/1NEESVO; Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1luwAsV; POLITICO: http://politi.co/1MUk4J6

TERRORISTS BETRAYED BY THEIR PHONES: Le Nouvel Obs elaborates on the earlier revelations of Mediapart that investigators have a copy of the attackers’ plans: http://bit.ly/1YhmDNs

HOLLANDE’S EMERGING WAR STRATEGY: The French want to build a grand “coalition” for Syria, writes Pierre Briançon. The first task this week is to break France’s isolation. http://politi.co/1POmVsd

MORE ON FRANCE’S WAY OF WAR: “They specialize in carefully apportioned and usually small but lethal operations.” http://politi.co/1ORpzyV

FROM TRAGEDY TO TALKING POINTS: It’s a case of #prayforparis and vote for moi, writes Robert Zaretski, as French politicians count down to regional elections in December. I’ll include more from Marine Le Pen and Nicholas Sarkozy in tomorrow’s Playbook. http://atfp.co/1NcxiqZ

ONE TWEET FOR EVERY VICTIM: Mashable is putting a face to every victim of the Paris attacks, posting a tweet for each person with a photo and a short bio: http://on.mash.to/1HZhwbp. POLITICO has put the stories into one slideshow here: http://bit.ly/1WZJjof

SWEDEN RAISES ITS THREAT LEVEL: The threat level is now four on a scale of five, for the first time, as government officials issued an arrest warrant for one person and said there was “concrete information” about a possible attack in Sweden. The Local: http://bit.ly/1POzaFe

THE TWO SIDES OF MOLENBEEK: The peaceful majority of Molenbeek have had their name and their home dragged through the mud this week, and they rallied yesterday to show support for the victims of the Paris attacks and pride in their postcode: “Je Suis 1080” is the rallying cry. And yet there’s a striking lack of accountability around how Molenbeek came to be a jihadist’s dream recruiting and organizing center. No one has suggested, offered or been forced to resign from any role, despite the district generating four terror plots in 2015 alone. Here are the two faces of life in Molenbeek:

THE DIRTY DOZEN — 12 PEOPLE WHO HELPED RUIN MOLENBEEK’S REPUTATION: Tell me who you think should or should not be named and shamed. http://politi.co/1X8wiDR

BELGIUM’S FAILURES: Tim King writes for POLITICO, “What do Molenbeek’s failures reveal about the deep dysfunction in the Belgian state? That Molenbeek has been allowed to become a breeding-ground for jihadism says some damning things about formal and informal structures in Belgium, and in particular Brussels.” http://politi.co/1T02qsC

WHAT KIDS SHOULDN’T HAVE TO LEARN: French schoolchildren, including in Brussels, will be taught today how to deal with a terror attack.

WE HEAR: increasing numbers of American students, some at the behest of their parents, are heading back home from schools and colleges in Brussels and Paris, after a week of worry following the Paris attacks.

OPINION — EX-CIA CHIEF BLAMES RECENT ATTACKS ON SNOWDEN: “It’s all back in Snowden’s lap,” Michael Morell tells Michael Hirsh, because ISIL was able to operate in a chastened environment in which intelligence gathering was partly shut down after Edward Snowden’s exposure of National Security Agency surveillance in 2013. http://politi.co/1HVU6Jt

WHAT THE NETHERLANDS IS READING …

1) DUTCH CABINET CONSIDERS SETTING UP A MINI-SCHENGEN ZONE: De Telegraaf reported Wednesday that the government will consider this move only as “last resort” but that it is resigned to the impossibility of securing Europe’s external borders, and fearful of domestic backlash if refugee flows cannot by managed because of failures at the southern border. So clubbing together with Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Austria to create a functioning inner core to the Schengen Zone is now a possibility.

Today, the Dutch parliament will debate the Paris attacks with the prime minister and my source expects this plan to feature prominently. Playbook’s estimate: That would be a very hard idea to pull off while the Dutch hold the rotating EU presidency from January 2016. NOS | Dutch News (English)

3) 18-YEAR-OLD HANNA TEACHES HER DAD A LESSON: As opinion editor of the Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad, Hans Nijenhuis,deals with great ideas and their loud proponents every day. He wasn’t expecting this WhatsApp exchange with his young daughter. (translated into English by Laura Martz)http://bit.ly/1SZBRUA

CYPRUS BREAKTHROUGH — ISLAND IS CLOSEST TO UNIFICATION IN 40 YEARS: Turkish Cypriots believe a deal could be agreed by May 2016, followed by a referendum. North suggests Greek Cypriots postpone May election, report Guy Faulconbridge for Reuters. “New impetus was given to the island’s on-off peace process by the election of moderate Mustafa Akinci as Turkish Cypriot leader in May. On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu joined a chorus of optimism, telling reporters there was a ‘window of opportunity’ on the Cyprus issue.” But there are “deep differences on how the new state would function and the degree of autonomy each side would have. The exact geography of the dividing line is also a difficult issue.” http://reut.rs/1O3Lm4Z. Daily Sabah: http://bit.ly/1YhlhT4

UK PEERS VOTE TO LOWER EU REFERENDUM VOTING AGE TO 16: The British parliament’s appointed upper house has voted to extend the franchise, a move that could add a million or more voters into the results, and delay the timing of the crucial vote as electoral officials work to get them enrolled to vote. But first the elected House of Commons will have to agree. http://reut.rs/1Ncmut8

KEN LIVINGSTONE GAFFE: The Labour party heavyweight and former mayor of London has “unreservedly” apologized, after initially refusing, for suggesting a shadow defense minister who criticized him needed “psychiatric help.” Kevan Jones — who lives with depression — said the comments were “gravely offensive.” Livingstone’s excuse: “I grew up in South London where if someone’s rude to you, you are rude back.” Livingstone has just been appointed as joint chair of Labour’s review of defense policy. http://bbc.in/1Ln0g00

PARLIAMENT MANEUVERS 1: The conservative EPP group has accused the left-wing S&D and centrist ALDE group of blocking the introduction of an EU passenger name records system. The left-wing groups returned fire, accusing Manfred Weber, the EPP’s chairman, of lying about their tactics regarding the PNR file.

PARLIAMENT MANEUVERS 2: Italian S&D MEP Elly Schlein has told POLITICO her decision to leave Italy’s center-left Democratic Party (PD) reflected her concern with the Renzi’s government move to the center on a number of key issues. But it does not mean she or fellow rebel Sergio Cofferati are contemplating a move away from the S&D. David Meyer with more for POLITICO Pro: http://politi.co/1PAKqGF

PARLIAMENT RISING STAR: I’ll be featuring rising stars of the Parliament over the final weeks of 2015, starting with Roberta Metsola, who draws high praise from many quarters. Here’s here latest statement on how refugees must not be victimized as Europe responds to the Paris attacks: “Refugees, by their definition are people running away from persecution, from terror, from death and Europe must continue to set an example to help give these people a future without fear. Our European values are exactly the opposite and it is those values that must form the basis of how we respond to these attacks.” http://bit.ly/1YhostM

CLIMATE — NEW UN REPORT URGES MARKET MECHANISMS: The U.N. calls for higher carbon pricing, fossil fuel subsidy cuts and providing more help to poorer countries in a new report. The world body is projecting a 12-gigaton excess in carbon dioxide emissions in 2030, risking the international goal to limit temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius by 2100. http://politi.co/1PNFn4a

BRINGING SEXY TO COMPETITION POLICY: The Who’s Who of Brussels’ competition world will congregate today at a conference organized by the blog Chillin’Competition. In a barren landscape dotted by multiple dry competition law journals, Chillin’Competition has attracted a fervent readership with its sometimes irreverent, sometimes serious look at European antitrust.

The blog was founded by Alfonso Lamadrid, an associate at law firm Garrigues, and Nicolas Petit, a law professor at Liège University, in 2009. It is now run by Lamadrid and Pablo Ibáñez Colomo, an associate professor at the LSE. Its long-running “The Friday Slot” puts a series of offbeat personal and professional questions to eminent practitioners, judges and officials, including competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, Google outside counsel Maurits Dolmans and General Court Judge Ian Forrester.

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO HAS THE MOST SOFT POWER OF ALL? The annual Monocle soft power survey is out today and puts Germany at the top of a list of 25 nations that know how to charm. The U.S. takes silver, with the U.K. winning a second consecutive bronze.

OECD AGREEMENT ON ELINIMATING COAL EXPORT CREDIT SYSTEMS: EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström is celebrating an agreement by the mostly wealthymembers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — including the EU — to substantially limit the export-related support for coal-fired power plants. OECD members will also encourage the use of the most advanced technology in energy production. According to the new OECD rules, the export credit agencies of the involved OECD countries will only be able to support export of coal-fired plants when it is clear that no less polluting power generation technology is available. More information on the OECD website.

POLITICO EDITORS WIN US EDITOR OF THE YEAR AWARD: John Harris and Jim VandeHei, founding editors of POLITICO, have been awarded the U.S. National Press Foundation’s coveted Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award. Their reaction: “But we don’t edit!” Not anymore at least, but the award was given by the judges because: “John and Jim saw an opening before others did … They have adapted traditional political reporting for the digital age. … They have brought energy, imagination and an entrepreneurial spirit to reshaping journalism as it must be practiced in the future.” POLITICO.EU also won an award last night for best news website using the .eu domain name, presented by EURid.

BIRTHDAYS Gianni Pittella, leader of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament; Bogdan Brunon Wenta MEP.

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